Likely Images
by Coral Candy
Summary: Fleur Delacour and Cedric Diggory are both seen in the same light. Poster boy and girl, popular for their looks and intelligence. Desirable to the opposite sex. There's one thing the wizarding world don't see. Their attraction for one another.FLEUR/CEDRIC
1. Chapter 1

The moment Cedric Diggory first laid eyes on Fleur Delacour was not a joyous occasion, he thought she was a stuck up spoilt princess who always got what she wanted. She had her own group of giggling girly fans that seemed to follow her everywhere until told by a teacher that they had to leave. He wasn't much higher in her opinion. He was the poster boy of Hogwarts, the likely hero, tall, dark and handsome and like her had a group of giggling witches that traveled with him everywhere, or everywhere that she had seen him; and that to Fleur and Cedric was where they hoped the similarities ended. How wrong they were.

Fleur had been brought up as a woman and nothing less, even at the youngest of ages; she had been expected to behave like a lady. She had inherited her Grandmother's features, the long flowing silvery-blonde hair and the deepest of blue eyes that were both traits of a Veela. Unbeknownst to her until the age of seven, Lady Eliza Delacour was in fact a Veela. This made Fleur only part-human, she had struggled with this fact early on at school, so much so that she had to be taken out of the Private School that she had attended back in Nice and be home-schooled by her Mother. The detail had not affected her Grandfather, a rich heir to a huge Banking system, much like Gringotts in London. They had had her Father, who was therefore half veela. Her father had come from a lot of money and did not lose that when he married a young witch that he had met whilst being schooled in Beauxbatons, they had had her and sister, Gabrielle who was too only part-human. Fleur had dreaded going to school at the age of 11 and was terrified on the nasty remarks that she may receive from arrogant, snobbish Pureblood students. The insults never came as by the age of twelve she had mastered the art of charming members of the opposite sex much to the dismay of her father. She had used this tool in life to her advantage as the years went by and coming to Hogwarts and charming most male students from Hogwarts and Durmstrang was no exception.

Cedric had been told throughout life that he was good at everything that he did and tried and that he would be able to do whatever he wanted when he left school, so he had never really thought about it further. The praise had not just been from home and from relatives, even the teachers could not find fault in anything that Cedric did. Even with all the compliments and encouragement that he had received over the years, Cedric was able to remain humble about his accomplishments; unlike his father. Amos Diggory never quite mastered the art of modesty and was the proud father of a prefect, seeker and Captain to the Hufflepuff house team. He liked to show off his son whenever he could and usually made a point of doing it at grand charity events or in the presence of the Weasley family much to Cedric's discomfort. Cedric knew his father meant well though, having been a quiet, shy boy when he had attended Hogwarts. Amos had managed to meet Cedric's mother, Martha while working for a small wizarding firm in Ottery, St Catchpole. He had since got a job working at the Ministry of Magic. Cedric's mother, Martha, had come from a wealthy and rather famous background; her mother had been a famous Mediwitch and her father and excellent Healer. Cedric had inherited most of his features from his Mother, high cheekbones, chestnut colored hair and eyes and a tall frame. His time had Hogwarts had been what he had considered to be easy and enjoyable in parts. The fact that he had managed to have his own fan club from his second year had always been a bit of a problem. Normal people considered him to be this arrogant stuck up pretty boy image that the fan club used to project.

When Fleur had first arrived at Hogwarts, she had been given a tour by a Prefect her own age, Cedric Diggory. He had been polite enough, telling her the history of the building and about the endless list of Headmasters the school had seemed to have. She had flirted shamelessly, hoping to catch his eye and use her Veela charm to win him over and maybe find out who were the ones to watch out for in the competition. Maybe even to experience a real relationship, something that she had never had the chance to do back in France under the watchful eye of her Mother. When he didn't once look her in the eye or even begin to register that she was flirting him, she took a dislike to him. It was not something that she was used to - rejection.

Cedric had not noticed her fluttering mile-long eyelashes in his direction, or giggling at nearly everything that he said, he was far too nervous to notice anything like that, he had noticed however, that she was part Veela. Having almost succumbed to their charm at the Quidditch World Cup, he was determined that he would not even flinch should she try to charm him. He kept his mind focused on the task at hand, chaperoning a guest at his school and making sure she was well looked after. He did not even notice the sulky look that had glazed over her face after about an hour. He just guessed that the reason she was so quiet was because she was tired from the long trip. So he showed her to her room and told her that he would come back for her when it was time to be taken to dinner. She nodded sulkily and agreed to be ready and slammed the door in his face. That was when Cedric Diggory had taken a dislike to her.

He had come for her still, just like he said he would when the time came to escort her to dinner, and she had been ready just like she said she would be. She was dressed in her own school robes made of a pale blue satin that made her look even more pale than before when she was dressed in what must be the uniform underneath the robes. She had muttered an accented 'hello' and made her way down the corridor in what she hoped was the right direction and she pulled on sleeved gloves to match her robes. Luck was on her side as she heard Cedric silently follow and catch up with her on the stairs. They continued their journey in silence until they reached the entrance to the Great Hall where she met with the rest of her school and was supposed to wait until Professor Dumbledore announced their arrival. Cedric noted the immediate swarm of girls that surrounded her and he was quickly forgotten about as the giggling bunch of schoolgirls were staring at Viktor Krum. Fleur however was not. She kept her gaze pinned on Cedric, hoping for the second time that maybe he would be able to pick up her charm. He didn't though; he was talking to a group of boys around the same age as himself and looked thoroughly engrossed in the conversation. It wasn't until a minute later that she noticed the small group of girls crowded round in a semi-circle that were staring at him.

She couldn't believe what she was seeing, a group of girls her own age were actually giggling over a boy. She tutted in distaste and was pulled away from looking at them when she heard the high pitched squeal of her good friend Antoinette. She rolled her eyes and realized that of course she could believe it. No wonder he hadn't been taken in by her charm, he had his own fan club. He must have hundreds of girls coming up to him each day, flirting with him mercilessly. Fleur realized how stupid she had made herself look and vowed never to make a fool of herself again in front of him; her dislike for him had taken itself to a whole new level.

Cedric meanwhile was going to try and talk to Fleur again, perhaps taking a different approach as the one he was using at the minute was obviously not working. Maybe he would let himself be taken in by her charm, she was beautiful enough, the only problem was, she was acting just like one of the girls that followed him around and made his life a misery.

After Dumbledore had announced the tournament, Cedric was required to walk Fleur back to her room, to make sure she got there safely. He met her by the entrance to the Great Hall; she had a scowl etched onto her pale features as he made his way across the room.

In the following weeks, Fleur was sick of seeing Cedric, it seemed as if the teachers were purposely making them work together in far too many area's, much too many for either Fleur's or Cedric's liking. Cedric, being a prefect had 'special privileges' that involved looking after the Durmstrang and Beauxbatons students. This meant, showing them where their classes were, helping them with the language barrier in many of them and basically just offering a friendly face from the competition. Cedric had been assigned to Beauxbatons; he assumed that this was because of the number of classes that he shared with many of their students.

Fleur was sitting in an Ancient Runes lesson, a subject that she found particularly boring and was hoping she would be able to drop quite soon. It was a subject that she had chosen, only to please her headmistress, Madame Maxime. As she listened to Professor Ehwaz ramble on about the upcoming test he was going to be giving she was becoming increasingly distracted by the two girls sitting in front of her giggling away as they gazed adoringly at the back of Cedric's head.

"This test is highly important if you want to succeed in this subject, I suggest lots of studying of the Ancient Runes Textology Manual 34." She said to a class whose attention span was rapidly decreasing, "You are dismissed for today class."

Fleur hurried to gather her belongings and throw them into a pale blue shoulder bag that her Mother had given to her on her seventeenth birthday. She was anxious to sleep before dinner when they would be announcing the Triwizard Tournament Champions for each school. She had entered her name two weeks ago, having been told by friends and teachers that she was highly likely to be chosen. She would want to be refreshed and relaxed if she was to be chosen, which meant sleeping now before dinner.

As she hurriedly climbed the never-ending staircases, she managed to find her room after asking for help and directions from two ghosts she had passed on the way. If she had waited she would have been able to walk with her two friends, Antoinette and Marie and a prefect that escorted them back but she was afraid that that prefect would be Cedric, who she did not want to encounter right now. Lost in her thoughts about the dinner that evening, the competition and Cedric she didn't pay attention to climbing the stairs and fell right through a missing one. The same one she'd fallen through the day she arrived, she had hastily been steadied by a certain chestnut haired prefect that time though. This time she went straight through and tripped up onto the stair above, managing to bang her head, wrist and leg all at the same time. Her bag was forgotten as its contents rolled about on the steps.

Fleur quickly stood in humiliation, spinning on her heel to make sure nobody had seen. Only two frightened looking first years were standing in the hall above, as she turned she bumped straight into somebody.

"I heard a crash, are you alright?" The person asked worriedly. Fleur looked up to see Cedric towering above her. Once he realized it was her, his look hardened and his next words were spoken in a much harsher tone than used before.

"Oh, do you need help picking up your things?"

Fleur shot him a glare and rushed to pick up her books and quills before they rolled completely off the step. She saw hi standing awkwardly at her side, wondering whether he should help her or not. She clearly did not like him; he had picked that vibe up almost immediately. It was alright though because he did not care for her either.

"No, I am fine, Zankyou" she muttered, wincing as she stood up. Cedric glanced down to see that her leg had a large nasty looking gash on it from where she had hit it on the corner of the step.

"That looks nasty; I would go to the hospital wing if I were you." He said, bending down to take a better look. She stepped away quickly from him.

"No, eet iz fine, I am fine. Zankyou anywayz" She mumbled before turning and missing the step and hurrying down the hall to her room. She collapsed on her bed when she reached there and gently tended to her injuries, realizing that the hospital wing was probably a much better option.

The next that Cedric saw of her was at dinner. She was suiting amongst the Ravenclaw's and her expression showed pain and hurt. None of her friends seemed to notice this as they busied themselves in serving dinner to each other.

"Students!" Dumbledore's voice rang throughout the Great Hall and Cedric noted the way that Fleur suddenly sat up that bit straighter and smoothed the invisible wrinkles in her robes. Probably out of respect for him and herself he thought. Dumbledore went on to tell everybody that when the champions name was called that they were to go through to the next room and wait until everybody had been called.

Cedric briefly thought about his chances of being chosen. He'd put his name in a few days after the Goblet had been put out, his friends had pressured him into doing it, telling him it was a once in a lifetime opportunity. How could he not agree to that? It really was a once in a lifetime sort of thing.

Fleur watched Dumbledore wave his wand over the Goblet and all the lights in the hall went out. The room was now only illuminated by the Goblet which was a glowing blue, white and silver. The hall was filled with insistent muttering from impatient students, most likely from Slytherin. The Goblet flames turned a fiery red and sparked powerfully when a piece of parchment was shot out from the top. Dumbledore reached out gently to grasp it from the air. He read it in the light of Goblet.

"The champion for Durmstrang will be Viktor Krum." Dumbledore read loudly. The applause deafened her as she watched a tall lanky boy that she vaguely recognized from the Bulgarian team that she watched during the summer at the Quidditch World Cup. He disappeared from view and the clapping died down to a faint fumble that could be mistaken for the low hum of the Goblet once again turning red. Another piece of parchment shot out of the Goblet and landed in his hand.

Fleur held her breath, many of the other students from her school were far more suitable for the role of champion of Beauxbatons, and she knew this completely. Yet she still hoped that maybe she would be able to represent her school. To maybe show the world that she was more than just a pretty face and she didn't need to rely on her charm for everything. It truly was a once in a lifetime opportunity, one that she knew she would not get again.

"The champion for Beauxbatons is Fleur Delacour," the foreign headmaster declared. She sat in shock for a mere two seconds before gracefully rising to her feet and making her way between the tables to the front of the hall and into the next room.

Cedric head turned sharply towards her when he heard her name called. He watched her smile gently at her close friends, one of whom had promptly burst into tear when she found out that she hadn't been chosen. He watched her walk, her silver hair bouncing up and down her back as she went to the front and disappeared from view.

Fleur entered the room and fell into one of the cushiony arm chairs that were piled with pillows in front of the roaring fire. Krum was leaning against the fireplace, staring intently into the flames. She wouldn't have been surprised if he hadn't even heard or noticed her enter.

She heard the noise of applause erupt form the Great Hall telling her that the Hogwarts champion had been chosen. Krum was pulled out of his trance like state when he heard the heavy footsteps heading towards the room. He turned to face the door giving Fleur an apologetic smile for not having noticed her earlier. The door opened and Fleur saw the recognizable features before Krum did. Her jaw dropped both in horror and in shock. It was Cedric.

If she hadn't made a fool of herself enough, now she would have to spend more time than ever with him. He smiled gently at her and she felt her cheeks turn a glowing red. She whipped her head back to face the fire. _Since when did she blush? _Fleur had never blushed; her skin had remained the same pale colour since she was born. She surely wasn't attracted to him? She had only once before been actually attracted to somebody and that was when she had a massive crush on a boy in her infant school. No one could understand why though as he teased her mercilessly and taunted her everyday, yet Fleur was adamant that she was in love with him and he would see the error in his ways, fall madly in love with her and they would be married and live happily ever after. Her mother had soon set her straight about that.

Fleur sighed and realized that this attraction would probably only get bigger and worse as the months drew out, she would simply have to stay away from him and avoid him as much as possible.

Cedric had noted the red tingle that had graced her cheekbones when he smiled at her, he smirked to himself, vowing to use it to his advantage.

**End of chapter one**

**Word Count – 3,134**

**A/N – Hi, I was extremely bored when I wrote this and am immensely pleased with the way the first chapter has turned out. I have not completely boycotted my Hermione/Draco stories. It is just that my muse is completely lost for that relationship but my Cedric/Fleur inspiration has been blossoming. I will try and write some more of D/Hr but I can not say that they will be any good due to the lack of imagination. I have plans to continue this but I don't think it'll be very long. If it is popular enough when I am finished, I will perhaps make a sequel in the future. The best thing about this story is I have it all planned out, I just have to write it. :D**

**Hope you are all well;**

**Laura**

**x x x x**

**P.S – I LOVE reviews, so please please please if you read this, tell me what you think of it, even if it is just to tell me I am a rubbish writer and should stop. Please be warned though that if you do, I will not oblige to your request as I love writing this stuff. **


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Disclaimer – I forgot this last time. I do not own anything from Harry Potter; I am merely a fan who wishes that she had come up with this before JK did.

The door leading from the great Hall opened once again and a boy that Fleur recognized to be Harry Potter, the boy who lived, stood in the doorway. He took a few tentative steps towards them, obviously distressed about something.

"What is eet? Do zey want us back in ze hall?" She asked. The question had come out sounding a lot harsher and a lot more demanding than she had meant it to. Harry didn't say anything, he merely stared at the three of them when Ludo Bagman came rushing up behind him, grasping him by the arm muttering words like 'Amazing' and 'Extraordinary'.

Ludo noticed the three occupants of the room and addressed them politely before going on to reveal the most absurd thing that Fleur had ever heard of. She laughed it off, declaring that it was a joke as she watched Krum simply staring at Harry while Cedric was looking shocked. Ludo went on to confirm that Harry Potter really and truly was the fourth champion of the Triwizard Tournament.

Fleur's eyes dashed back and forth from Harry to Ludo. Harry was clearly in a state of shock, he hadn't said a word since he'd arrived. Somewhere deep inside of her, she felt a twinge of sympathy for the younger student but it was quickly overridden by the surge of anger that she felt. Suddenly her name coming out of the Goblet didn't seem as important as it first had done. There had evidently been a mistake and mix up with Harry's name and she couldn't help but wonder _what if the same had happened with her_. _What if Antoinette was to come back here and say that she too was the second champion for Beauxbatons? _

She also realized that there was a greater chance of Hogwarts winning the whole competition now. Fleur had been so certain that she would be able to compete and easily beat Krum with her wit and intelligence. Cedric was still a bit of a shock to her, but Harry Potter? The boy had apparently survived and attack from '_He who shall not be named'._ There was absolutely no way she would stand a chance against him. So when she saw the teachers coming into the room, she resorted to the last thing she could think of, complaining to Madame Maxime. So she had, she had stomped over to her the minute she saw her enter.

Cedric walked with Harry after the champions had been told the date of the first task. He had asked him how he had got over the age line. Harry had told him that he hadn't put his name into the Goblet. Cedric looked at him skeptically but decided to humor him before they parted with each other. As he entered his own common room, the cheers erupted from within. Several of his friends came up to congratulate him along with several other people that he didn't normally talk to. The party had gone well into the night with only a few having gone off upstairs even by two o'clock. Cedric was waiting for an excuse to escape; he wanted time to think the tournament over. Four champions? He knew that never before in history had the ever been four champions. He didn't feel resentment towards Harry; he knew that so many people had tried to put their names in the goblet. It wasn't Harry's fault that he was the only one who had managed it while being underage.

"You lucky git!" Sean Harvey, a close friend of Cedric's had said while punching him lightly on the arm. He started with the contact, waking him from his day-dream.

"Sorry?" Cedric asked, glancing at the clock while yawning. It read two-thirty; he would soon have to find a decent excuse so that he could retire to his room and fall asleep, he could ponder the question of the extra champions in the morning, perhaps while practicing his flying.

"I said you deaf so and so, 'you lucky git!'"

Cedric looked at him blankly not bothering to ask why he was a lucky git, nor why he had been insulted for no apparent reason.

"The girl!" Sean cried, "You know that Deledor chick! The Veela!"

"Fleur Delacour?" Cedric asked. Sean nodded, grinning at his friend. Sean had been particularly taken with Fleur from the moment she had arrived. He had acted like every other of his male friends, immaturely. His jar had dropped and he had immediately been taken in by her charm, yet he still could not find the time or effort to learn her name, he had referred to her as the 'Veela' or the 'Deledor chick' since September.

"What about her?" he asked tiredly not wanting another one of Sean's rants about how he was going to ask her out in time for the first Hogsmeade trip.

"You get to work with her, you know like everyday! You don't think perhaps you could-"

"No!" Cedric asked, his eyes widening at the thought of having to ask yet another girl out for Sean, "Listen, she'd a snobby and stuck up, you don't want to go out with her."

"My gosh, did we actually here Cedric Diggory, Mr. Fair and Square who prides himself on giving everybody a chance be rude about someone, and not just someone, a girl!" Sean cried in mock surprise and outrage.

"I gave her a chance and I don't like her."

"Still! Snobby and stuck up eh?"

As soon as she and Madame Maxime had made their way back to the Beauxbatons carriage, she had politely excused herself from the celebrations taking place in her honor, telling her friends that she needed to catch up on some sleep she had lost. In truth she just wanted to lie down and think about the disaster that had occurred that evening. She was one of four champions, not three, four. It just wasn't right, nor fair, she was supposed to be one of three champions. She was supposed to have a fair chance at winning this tournament, and now with her three competitors being male, Fleur was having a hard time picturing herself holding the Cup.

**A/N – This is very short and I am so sorry for that. I just wanted to post this and perhaps maybe work on the next chapter in time for tomorrow. Two chapters in two days is a record for me and I am extremely pleased with myself. My inspiration is at it's highest at the moment and I am thrilled. **

**Please review. **

**Thanks to those who did for the last chapter, **Sequ3stered, **lara and **abby. **Your reviews mean the world to me.**

**Laura  
x x x x**

**p.s - Thanks to Dark Princesses too! I have just received you review:D**

**another p.s - Sorry wasn't working for me last night so also thanks to asianchick44 and alexceasar.**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Disclaimer – I do not own Harry Potter, it all belongs to JK Rowling!

The next day the schools had a hard time adjusting to the idea of having four champions and they weren't the only ones, Fleur was still trying to work out how Harry had done it, he was obviously incredibly clever to have fooled the Goblet of Fire as well as Dumbledore. She was sitting in the dungeons waiting for the dreadful lesson of double potions to begin. She had always enjoyed the subject back in France, but here, the professor was a beast of a man and didn't seem to like anybody.

Cedric was in the third row, sitting behind Fleur. She seemed bright and perky as usual, or as hap so he guessed that she didn't have the same sort of celebration as he did the night before. Or she had just come up with a better excuse for leaving. He'd been kept awake until the early hours of the morning, the sun had just begun to rise when he was finally able to fall asleep peacefully, so all in all he had probably only had around three hours sleep. He had managed to hide it convincingly though, or at least he hoped he had, it had been dark in the bathroom when he had dragged himself up and the thought of turning on the lights to reveal his reflection had seemed to scary to imagine at that time.

The door to the dungeons flung open at the same time by themselves, or it looked that way until Snape came in flicking his wand over his shoulder back towards the door when they shut by themselves too.

"Page 912 class;" he drawled, making his way through the classroom and around the tabled up to the front of the classroom where he lazily took a seat and glared at specific individuals in the class.

Cedric had always managed to stay out of trouble with the narrow minded potions teacher, he normally only went for the Gryffindors though. He was extremely biased when it came to marking and grading and the only top marks in the school went to those from his own house, Slytherin. A select few Ravenclaw's and Hufflepuff's had managed to scrape a high mark before now but never any Gryffindor's. At least none of whom Cedric knew.

"Read the chapter." He said simply, not bothering to look like he was doing anything other than observing them work. The next 15 minutes were spent in silence, only the occasional sneeze that was a product of the increasingly cold weather that surrounded the Hogwarts grounds at this time of year.

"I trust that you have all finished reading?" Snape said not looking around to check whether everybody had finished or not. "You have read about the ingredients for the Jehri Flower Potion, now I want you to make it. The ingredients are in the store cupboard; I want this written up on a foot of parchment."

Groans filled the room at the thought of having yet another long assignment to complete in time for the lessons in which they were due.

"I will pair you up so don't even think of starting just yet."

"Jenkins and Herbert" The two Ravenclaw's sat behind Cedric and he heard the grunts of approval from both of them, "Rabel and Kinsman, Harvey and Jones, ah yes we'll have the two champions paired up, see if you actually live up to your expectations and reputations, Diggory and Delacour."

Feeling the uncomfortable dread creep through his veins he watched as Fleur glanced at him and gathered her belongings in a silent agreement that she would come and sit next to him. He was sure he was going to have to do all the work, _princesses don't work,_ he thought to himself as he re-read through the instructions. He heard the soft thud of Fleur sitting besides him and acknowledged her with a nod and a slight smile.

"Ello Cedric," She greeted as she too opened her potions book to the correct page, "What do we need?"

"Sorry?"

"For zee potion, what ingredients do we need? I shall go up and get zem." She offered taking out a bit of parchment and a quill.

This girl was just full of surprises. Cedric didn't hesitate in listing the ingredients and their measurements so Fleur could go to the store cupboard and collect them from the teacher.

"Okay, we need to decide on what we want zee potion to do." Fleur said as she noted down the Flourign onto the parchment. Seeing his look of confusion she remembered that obviously only she had learnt the how to make the potion before when attending Beauxbatons.

"The Jehri Flower is known for its capability to morph itself into zee shape of what eez most needed by zee person who eez holding it. Only of course zere are some exceptions. Zee flower eez most commonly used in emergency's as blankets or candles." She explained while Cedric listened carefully, his surprise having worn off.

"Oh right, they didn't, uh mention it in the book though."

"Yes, we only read about zee ingredients, not zee use. I expect Professor Snape eez trying to trick us into just making the flower." She replied glancing at Snape and glaring.

"I suppose we could make a cauldron or something that perhaps Snape could use , perhaps get into his good books for a while."

Fleur smiled brilliantly and nodded her glowing white locks before noting the extra ingredients needed and gracefully making her way to the cupboard. Cedric felt a sharp jab in the back after collapsing in his seat and waiting for his partners return. He turned to face the culprit.

"How the HELL did you manage that one?" Sean asked looking half angry and half bemused.

"I didn't, Snape chose the partners, you saw yourself!"

"Yeah, well." He said looking wistfully at Fleur talking to Snape, "Enjoy it mate! I know you don't really mean what you say about her, you know the whole 'snobby princess' remark you made last night. You looked _way _too cozy a minute ago."

Cedric rolled his eyes and turned his back on his friend as he saw Fleur make her way back to their table.

"I got zem." She announced, dropping the armful of jars onto the workspace. Cedric picked one of them up and read from the label, '_Terriwinkle Dew'._

"What's this for?"

"Zee part needed to make zee Cauldron, eet gives eet zee polished finish."

The next hour and a half were spent measuring the ingredients and adding them to their potion, carefully following the instructions that Snape had written on the board. Cedric enjoyed Fleur's company more than he thought he would and she the same with him. They had realized that they had many similar interests and that their family backgrounds, no matter how different in the past seemed to enjoy the same activities now. By the time it was the end of the lesson, Cedric and Fleur were well into the making of their potion, they stored it in a vial and handed the progress sample to Snape for analysis.

"So, uh, I'll be seeing you around then I suppose." Cedric said as they stood by the top of the stairwell that led down to the dungeons where they had just appeared.

"Yees, I expect we will, be seeing a lot of each other," She nodded brightly.

"So, I'll see you at dinner then?" Cedric asked, swinging his loaded bag onto his bag and waving a hand impatiently to his friends who were yelling for him down the corridor.

"Of course."

A.N – Sorry this is so late, I got caught up with so much work and I didn't have any time to work on this little story. I hope you enjoy it. Thank you for all the absolutely wonderful reviews I received for the last chapter, they made my day. Please read and review!

**Hope you all are well;**

**LJ  
x x x**


	4. Chapter 4

Three weeks and two day later saw Fleur and Cedric sitting in a Transfiguration lesson listening to Professor McGonagall ramble on about some historical event in the history of Transfiguration. Over the time period, Fleur and Cedric had become quite good friends, they would talk to each other in passing and would smile when they caught one another's eye yet the conversations shared were no more interesting or factual than the one they had had in the potions lesson in the weeks before.

The door to the hall-type room swung open and a second-year boy knocked timidly on the open door. Professor McGonagall and several students looked towards him, she smiled gently and the scared looking child and beckoned him in to her. He hurried up between the desks, not daring, for some reason, to make eye contact with anybody.

"Please Professor, I have been sent to fetch the two champions. Please may I take Miss Delacour and Mr. Diggory?"

"Mr. Diggory, Miss Delacour, I have been asked to send you with this young man. Pack up your things and you both are dismissed."

Cedric glanced towards the back of the room to where Fleur was, she looked towards the messenger who had scurried toward the back of the classroom after paying the teacher a small thank you. He quickly shoved his books, along with his ink and quill and waited outside the room with the boy until Fleur arrived.

"So, have you called for everybody else yet?" Cedric asked him, trying to make small talk until his competitor appeared.

"Uh, no, I still have to call Mr. Krum and Master Potter." He told Cedric shyly.

"Cedric." Cedric stated, holding his hand out towards the younger of the two. The boy looked at his offering of the hand with a great deal of shock and worry painted on his face.

"Sam, Sam Jennings," he told him, nervously shaking his hand.

"Hey Sam! Sam?" A voice called towards the pair from across the hall. Both of them turned to see another student, probably the same age as Sam running towards them.

"Have you been asked to collect the champions from their lessons?" he asked excitedly. Sam nodded.

"Wow! I'm Colin, Colin Creevey." The young boy announced, confidently holding out a hand to Cedric. Cedric chuckled and shook Colin's hand.

"Cedric."

Colin turned back to Sam where he seemed to be in the middle of a thought process, a grin lit up his face like one would a Cheshire cat's.

"Have you called for Harry Potter yet?"

"Um, no, not yet."

"Can I do it? Please? He's my friend; I know what lesson he has now too! Potions with Snape, I'm on my way in that direction anyway, please?" Colin rushed.

"I don't know, Mr. Bagman did ask me to do it, I wouldn't want to get into trouble, I wouldn't want you to either."

"I won't, Mr. Bagman never has to know. Please?" Colin asked. Cedric had to say that Colin was very good at begging, he seemed to be changing Sam's mind, he could tell by the look on his face. He left the two alone as he looked back into the classroom. Fleur was carefully tidying her things away into a Periwinkle blue shoulder bag that he had never seen before. The bag had many pockets and she seemed to be putting each of her belongings in a different one. Finally when she was done, she zipped it up and waved her wand so the bag shrunk down until it was the about the size of a walnut. She slipped it into her pocket and waved goodbye to her friends.

Cedric spun back to face Sam. He did not want to seem as if he was getting impatient with her or that he was waiting for her, even though he was. Colin had disappeared, most likely to fetch Harry from his lesson. He had seen the boy follow Harry around before, ever since he had arrived, he appeared to have an odd obsession with him.

"Are you ready?" a French accent spoke, slicing through the newly acquired silence like a bread knife.

"Yes, you?" Cedric asked. She smiled and nodded before turning towards Sam. He gulped and quickly took off down the hall leaving Cedric and Fleur to follow behind. After about two minutes of walking in silence, with Sam leading the way about ten yards in front of them Cedric was getting uncomfortable and he could sense that Fleur was too.

"So, have…"

"Zee weat…"

They both broke off, Fleur's pale complexion being tinted with a light shade of pink. Cedric gestured for her to finish what she was saying.

"Sorry, please continue." He told her apologetically.

"Non, you carry on."

"I was just asking if you had given any thought to what incantation you were going to study for Transfiguration."

"Oh, I haven't really had time. I was zinking of doing one that I have learnt about een France."

"Have you been taught a lot that we haven't then?"

"I don't zink so, just some zings. You have been taught a lot zat I haven't zough."

They stopped when they came to a large wooden door, one that Cedric hadn't remembered seeing before. He looked behind him and didn't recognize the corridor either. He hoped they wouldn't have to make their own way back otherwise he would surely be lost as he hadn't been paying attention on the way there.

"I have to go and get Master Krum now. If you knock then I'm sure you will be able to go in."

"Thanks Sam." Cedric smiled at him.

"Yes thank you." Fleur added.

"Mr. Diggory, Miss Delacour." Sam nodded before making his way down the corridor.

"It's Cedric Sam, not Mr. Diggory, Mr. Diggory is my father." He called after him kindly. Sam looked behind him and gave Cedric a timid smile and then he ran down the corridor as fast as he could.

"That was odd, he seemed terrified, especially when a loud boy came over begging to be allowed to go and collect Harry Potter from his lesson." Cedric said to Fleur, turning back towards the door.

They knocked and a beaming Ludo Bagman soon answered it.

" Cedric! Fleur! Do come in, make yourselves comfortable, we are just waiting for our other two champions to arrive and then we shall proceed."

They entered the room and Fleur could see that it was a classroom of some sort. All of the desks and most of the chairs had been pushed to the side and up one end there was a long table covered with a velvet tablecloth. Other chairs were scattered around the room. Fleur and Cedric made their way to the back where there were two placed quite close to each other. After engaging in a short conversation about their project for Professor McGonagall, the door opened again and this time Victor Krum stalked in with his head bowed, he went to the corner and stood by himself, continuing to look at the ground.

"He seems upset," Fleur commented, nodding towards where Krum stood, isolated from the rest of the group. Cedric turned to look at his fellow champion and noted that he did indeed look troubled; he decided to check on him after the meeting.

"I'll talk to him afterwards."

"I would not bother. He seems zee moody type anywayz." Fleur said snootily, turning her nose up at even the idea. Cedric chuckled at the comment. What she had said had not been funny, but the way she could be so opinionated without even talking to somebody or giving him or her a chance astounded him sometimes. No wonder most of the Hogwarts population disliked her, or well the female population anyway. The males he suspected, couldn't give a hoot about whether Fleur had a likeable personality or not.

"What eez so funny?" Fleur asked.

"Nothing, you just surprise me sometimes."

"Cedric?"

"Yes?"

"Zat man keeps staring at me." She told him quietly, motioning with her head towards the other sid of the room where a rather large man stood with a camera round his neck. Cedric turned to look and noticed that Fleur was right, but as soon as he turned around the man looked away rather hastily. He seemed to be focusing his eyesight on a particular spot on the ceiling.

"Yes, well I thought you'd be used to it by now."

"I am used to getting stared at by young men, but not _old _men_," she_ explained as quietly as she could.

"Yes, well you are part Veela Fleur, you have a certain something that seems to make the males go weak at the knees."

"Even you?" She asked rather boldly. Cedric would have blushed if it had not been for the fantastic acting skills he had mastered earlier on in life. He had needed them often when it had come to family dinners, his father had bragged about his son so much that Cedric had needed to learn how not to blush.

"Well, uh, no, not really." He stuttered, his blush may have been non-existent but the embarrassment stood out in his voice when he spoke.

"You zink I am ugly?" Fleur asked, evidently hurt by his answer.

"Of course not!" Cedric said rather loudly, loud enough for Ludo Bagman, Krum and the man who had been staring at Fleur to all look over at him. Fleur blushed at the bluntness of his remark and bowed her head so her hair fell in front of her face. "I mean… I mean, no, of course I don't think you're ugly. Come off it Fleur, everybody knows you're beautiful; you'd have to be blind not to see it. I just meant that… I don't know, I seem to be immune to this Veela charm. Even at the Quidditch World Cup I didn't go crazy like the other men when the Veela started to dance."

He had taken the time in his speech to look awkwardly at his feet, when he looked back up, Fleur was beaming at him, and she looked as if she was trying to hide it.

"What?" Cedric asked finding that Fleur's smile was infectious and he soon found himself grinning for no apparent reason, "What?"

"Nothing… eet's just zat no matter how many times I hear eet, I alwayz blush when somebody says I am beautiful."

"Oh. Well you are." Cedric told her, he knew he was flirting with her, something that he normally thought was hugely cheesy, but right now he didn't care.

"Zank you." She told him sincerely, she knew he was flirting with her; she was debating in her head on whether she should retaliate and join in with the game that they were playing with one another. She flicked her hair over her shoulder, a move that she normally used on the people who were sucked in by her Veela ways. She liked the fact that Cedric was not affected by it. It meant that at times like now, when they were flirting, he was flirting because he truly liked her for who she was. It was so difficult to decipher now who was only interested in her for her looks.

The door opened again and this time Harry Potter walked in. He looked surprised to be there actually. Ludo Bagman soon spotted the fourth champion and started with the 'Weighing of the Wands Ceremony'. He also introduced a witch that neither Fleur nor Cedric had noticed before. This shocked Fleur as normally she would have spotted the reporter named Rita Skeeter a mile away as she had the most awful fashion sense she had ever seen.

Harry Potter had been called out to be interviewed first for a news article in the Daily Prophet, which left Cedric and Fleur with Victor Krum who had not said a word since he had arrived.

"So, Krum, how are you finding lessons at Hogwarts?" Cedric asked him, trying to get the boy to talk a bit.

"They are okay." He said simply.

Cedric asked a few more questions only to be given exactly the same short sentence answers. When Harry came back, he looked a bit relieved and Cedric wondered what on earth the woman could have asked to cause such an effect.

"Cedric?" Harry asked as he passed him on his way back to his chair next to Krum, "She uh, wants the rest of you together."

"She does not want to eenterview us separately?" Fleur asked outraged.

"Er, no. She's in a cupboard back there," he told them gesturing to a door behind him.

The three of them stood and knocked on the door that apparently Rita Skeeter was in, she called them in and they opened the door to find hardly any space at all.

"Come in, come in, I know it's a bit cozy but if we all squish up I'm sure we'll manage," she told them, moving her back on to the floor and gesturing to the upturned buckets in front of her of which there were only two. Krum motioned for Fleur to go before him as Cedric made his way into the cupboard. They managed to fit the three of them on the two buckets, with Fleur in the middle looking particularly uncomfortable with the seating arrangements.

"Ah yes, very nice, very nice. Do you mind shutting the door for me dearie?" She asked Krum, he looked blankly at her before gently closing the door next to him.

"Well, here we are with Cedric Diggory, champion of Hogwarts, well _one _of the champions. Victor Krum, champion of Durmstrang and Fleur Delacour, champion of Beauxbatons. So how do you feel, being chosen to represent your school in one of the most deadly, dangerous, terrifying tournaments known to man _and_ beast?"

Fleur narrowed her eyes at the woman; she had taken an instant dislike to her. Cedric cleared his throat, waiting for somebody to answer.

"Precious, you're too speechless with joy to say anything." She cooed.

"So, Victor, Cedric, how does it feel to have gained heart throb status? Do you like the attention or do find the little girlies a bit annoying?"

"Um…" Cedric trailed off.

"Do you have girlfriends that find it annoying?"

"Zis ees ridiculous!" Fleur cried. Rite Skeeter looked at her, not al all surprised or shocked at the outburst.

"How adorable, you have a _crush _on one of these two lovely young men. C'mon love, spill, readers want to know all the juicy gossip."

Fleur's jaw dropped, she blushed a little too, and probably making it look as if she did like one of them. She stood straight up and climbed carefully over Krum to stalk out the door. Cedric and Krum stared out after her.

"Well! So… do you know who it is?"

A/N – Whooo, another chapter of Likely Images. I wanted to post this before I go to the USA on Tuesday as I will be without Internet connection for far too long and you would probably think I have abandoned you, which is not the case. So the next chapter will probably be most likely posted in September. I am terribly sorry about that but I will try very hard to write it on paper so you will not have to wait too long.

**Thankyou for all the lovely reviews, I enjoy reading them so much. I am terribly sorry for not replying to the reviews but I have just had final exams and projects due in so I did not have time but I promise I will reply to all the reviews I receive for this chapter.**

**Hope you all are well;**

**LJ**

**x x x **


	5. Chapter 5

Likely Images – Chapter 5 

**Disclaimer – I do not own Harry Potter, only the plot.**

_Harry James Potter, a mere boy of twelve is the youngest ever champion in the Triwizard tournament. He along with three others, the three of them being old enough to be allowed in the competition; are competing for the grand prize of one thousand galleons. The hefty sum probably seeming a little too realistic for the boy who survived He Who Shall Not Be Named's evil attack, the same attack that cost him his parents. Will the pressure cause this little hero to crack? Over the next months we shall see so be sure to pick up a copy of The Daily Prophet everyday or you could subscribe to us by sending a cheque for the appropriate sum of money to:_

_The Daily Prophet Department_

_Building 2345_

_Kellydoggons Avenue_

_Hogsmeade_

_The three other champions are; Cedric Diggory, a typical Hogwarts pin up. Victor Krum, the Bulgarian Seeker who caught the snitch at the Quidditch World Cup Final earlier this year and Felicity Delacour, a stereotypically beautiful dumb blonde from Beauxbaton's. _

_Toodles, Rita Skeeter_

"Feleecity?" a voice exclaimed while shoving a copy of The Daily Prophet under Cedric's nose. He looked up from his pile of buttered toast into the eyes of a very angry stereotypically beautiful blonde girl.

"Perhaps it was a printing error." Cedric offered as he picked the paper up out of his breakfast and brushed it off.

"You meen you have read zis?" Fleur cried while seating herself opposite him and between two very excited looking third years, "And you did not tell me!"

"I didn't want to cause a fuss – everybody knows that Rita Skeeter is a malicious snake." He told her reassuringly, offering her a slice of his breakfast. She shocked him by taking two and promptly shoving one down her throat. It was not what he had expected from a girl who had shown such exemplary manners in every other aspect.

"How hard eez eet to remember a five letter name?" She moaned polishing off the second slice and reaching for another. Cedric glanced down at his plate to find it empty.

"Hungry?" he asked, eyebrows raised. It made a nice change for him to see a girl from Beauxbaton's eat, all the other girls had simply made a huge fuss about the 'wonderful' food back home and then fixed themselves up a plate of salad each day. She glared at him and piled another round on to his plate.

"So you mean you aren't annoyed about the fact that she called you a 'pretty dumb blonde' only that she didn't remember your name?" He asked re-reading the article and quoting from it.

"She said _what?_" The paper was snatched out of his hands and he took two slices of the toast that Fleur has picked up. He watched and listened amused to the high-pitched gasps and squeals coming from behind the newspaper. He could see the silvery eyebrows moving further and further into her hairline as well. The photo on the front was one of the four champions standing in a line next to Ludo Bagman. He couldn't help but notice how Fleur seemed to fit perfectly next to him. He had never noticed how small framed and fragile she looked either. He glanced at her hands and wrists holding the paper taking in how small and pale they were. _'Perfect' _he thought. He shook himself from his dream like state and scolded himself mentally for having such thought about a person he now considered to be his friend.

"I never read zat far down," she sighed sadly, folding the newspaper back up.

"She doesn't know what she is talking about," He told her absent-mindly as he remembered how Fleur was even smaller than the last girl he went out with on a date. Joanna DeVall who was 5' 4". He would be lying if he said that height and frame were not high on his list of things that he looked for in a girl.

"I'm not dumb." She said sincerely, he realized that she really cared about what people thought of her in this school and not only about her looks.

"Fleur, I know you aren't stupid, if anything you're exactly the opposite," he told her just as sincerely. Fleur smiled and she instantly seemed to perk up. Cedric noticed this, he seemed to be noticing far too much about her recently and her height, or rather _lack _of _height_ didn't seem to want to leave his thought process anytime soon. He tried to remember back to when she was standing. In his opinion she had to be 5'3" at least, any smaller and he surely wouldn't be able to stop thinking about her.

"Fleur, how tall are you?" he asked before he could stop himself. She glanced up from her copy of the prophet.

"Five foot two."

**­A/N – Hey everybody, I am terribly sorry that this chapter is so short. I have more written but I wrote it while on a plane and now looking back at it, I can see it is the worst thing I have ever written so I'll go back and change that. I am just about to start replying to all of your lovely reviews. They were amazing to read after I got back, thanks!**

**Hope you all are well;**

**LJ **

**X x x**


	6. Chapter 6

Likely Images – Chapter 6 

Halloween fell on a Friday this year and the teachers, being for some reason or another in a 'good' mood decided to let the whole of the school off of timetable for the day. Apparently there were going to be activities of all sorts taking place in and around the school. The school had been decorated for the occasion and was decked out in finery consisting of two colours, orange and black. Students had decided to add their own pranks and decorations, which meant that unsuspecting people, sometimes even teachers would face them. Cedric knew of two to be wary of, the west wing corridor on the fifth floor where a group of third years had placed a charm on a certain part of the wall that contained some sort of motion detector and whenever somebody walked pass alone in a group of three or less a huge swarm of spiders rushed out at them. He had seen first hand the effects it had had on one sixth year, she had shrieked and promptly fainted at the sight. Cedric was not scared of spiders but he didn't fancy coming face to face with an army of them. The statue of the famous Mediwitch in the lobby parlour had also been charmed so that every five or so minutes it would come to life and begin terrorizing whoever was closest to it.

Parties were in full swing on the Thursday evening as being off timetable the next day meant that they could stay up to whatever time they wanted, within reason of course, they had to make sure that no teacher happened to be walking by the common room.

"Cedric!" a male voice called to him as he struggled to make his way through the crowd and over to his friend. It took him a good two minutes to cross the small stretch of space in between the two of them but the managed to meet in the middle and Sean dragged Cedric off to the side of the common room where there were slightly less people.

"Where have you been? You've been missing all the fun!" Sean cried taking a large gulp out of his bottle of Butterbeer.

"Out." Cedric said simply taking in the sight of his classmates chasing each other childishly around the common room. Others were dancing, but in an odd fashion since it was Halloween. The music playing sounded familiar, organs low and loud.

"Out where?" Sean persisted. Cedric frowned at him and shrugged heading towards the common room stairs.

"Cedric?" was the last he heard as he ascended the stairs to his dormitory. He wasn't worried about Sean following him for he knew he wouldn't, Sean was what people, namely teachers, liked to call a bit of a bad influence on the younger population of Hogwarts otherwise known as crazed party animal. He wouldn't be joining Cedric in the dormitory till later on in the early hours of the morning, if at all. It was highly likely that he would just fall asleep in the common room and be found the next morning by a teacher.

Collapsing on the four-poster bed that was his own he let his mind back to the earlier events of the evening.

_It was dinnertime and the hall was crowded with people, all trying to eat quickly as to go back to their respective houses and join the parties that had surely already begun for some. He sat down at his usual space and reached for a plate when he heard a soft thud opposite him. Fleur had joined him and she too reached for a plate. She felt his gaze on her and smiled at him, he returned it and they both silently began to fill their plates. _

_"Hard day?" He asked, finally breaking the comfortable silence that they had been eating their meal in. She nodded and went back to her meal._

_"You?" She asked some minutes later, her craving for Lasagne having apparently worn off and she was now contentedly chewing at a normal speed._

_"Double Herbology. Always difficult on a Thursday afternoon, well actually it's worse when it falls on a Friday but this feels like one so I suppose so." He explained while she reached for a second helping of Pasta. _

_"Hmmm." She agreed, "What are you doing tonight?"_

_He looked at her quizzically and then realized that she was talking about the parties. One was being held in each house, and then there was another one with the Durmstrang and Beauxbatons students. He knew people were planning to switch and go to each other's parties, he had also heard about the prank war they were planning to have. He really didn't want to have to be a part of that, he'd much rather just relax that evening, get his homework out of the way and then get a good nights rest for the festivities the next day. _

_"I don't know, to be honest with you, I'd really much rather just stay away." _

_"Me too." She smiled at him, "Do you want to go for a walk round zee lake or something, I'm sure nobody would be zere."_

_"I'd love to."_

_After Dumbledore had made the evening announcements and the school had begun to filter out of the hall Cedric and Fleur put there dirty plates in the bowls placed at the end of each table and made their way out to the grounds._

_"Cats or dogs?" He asked her randomly when they reached the edge of the lake. She looked quizzically up at him and quirked her head in the same manner that a puppy would, had he been confused._

_"Cats or dogs?" he repeated, "Which do you prefer?" She considered the question for a moment before replying._

_"Dogs."_

_"Really? I always saw you as more of a cat person." _

_"How so?"_

_"I don't know, I suppose in a way you remind me of a cat." She narrowed her eyes at him and laughed._

_"Zankyou." She said sarcastically._

_"I didn't mean it in a bad way, I just mean your mannerisms are so feline like, it's uncanny. Like the way you walk, so graceful and elegant, like a cat!" He explained._

_"You saved yourself zere Diggory." She told him smiling gently, "You?"_

_"I like dogs too. I have an Alsatian at home, well actually two Alsatians as well as a Retriever."_

_"What are zere names?"_

_"Mindy and Samson are two German Shepherds and Penny is our Lab, chocolate."_

_"I wish I had a dog, all we have are zee swans, fish and ducks in zee garden along wiz a very old cat named Jaq who eez always home nowadays."_

_"Where is home?" _

_"Just south of Paris in a small town called Valedjaq. Ands you?"_

_"London." He said simply, she nodded and looked at the lake at this time of night. It was still early, only eight thirty but the nighttime sky was pitch black save for the stars that lightly twinkled for it was the end of October and the days were becoming much shorter._

_"Christmas or Birthdays?" Fleur responded looking up at him expectantly._

_"Christmas." He told her straight off. She raised silver eyebrows. "… Because… I don't know, I guess everybody's celebrating and when it's your birthday it's only you. I love the snow and busyness of Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley on the days just before Christmas."_

_"Eez it fun?" _

_Cedric nodded remembering the years before when he had gone with his friends and parents to the crowded shops, hurriedly buying last minute things for the festive season. He thought of what it would be like this year with the tournament and everything else going on, 'it would be hectic' he imagined however he could be sure that he would make time to show Fleur around the village near Hogwarts. He wanted her to feel the same feelings he did every other year and he wasn't sure why._

_"I'll show you." He made the promise with his eyes, stopping to come and stand in front of her. He looked down at her and she up at him. They stayed that way for a seemingly long time, just staring at each other while they both desperately tried to think of something to say to break the uncomfortable tension that was slowly building between them. All the while Cedric was staring at her he willed his eyes not to wander down to her mouth but they would not oblige, he found himself looking at he lips far more than he should have been. Not really thinking about what he was doing he moved closer to her, his head bending as she craned her neck. _

'_This is too cliché." He thought as he moved closer still and as if someone, somewhere had heard what he had thought they decided to go the full works and send the rain down._

_FLASH_

_The two of them sprung apart as the lightning touched down in what Cedric could only assume was one of the fields behind the school, it was extremely close because not a second after the flash the thunder sounded around them and the heavens opened, sending gallons of rainwater down on to the two of them. Cedric took Fleur by the arm and made his way towards the school before they were soaked to the bone and caught hypothermia. By the time they reached the front doors the storm had moved with them and the lightning was now narrowly missing the edges of the lake._

_"I better get back to zee carriage, Madame Maxime will wonder where I am." Fleur said shaking her hair so the water fell off and on to the floor. _

_"I'll walk you, I think we need to hurry though." He said nodding towards the dark cloud that had quickly overshadowed the lake._

_They ran past the side of the school and out towards where the Quidditch pitch was and where the Beauxbaton's carriage was parked. _

_"I had fun tonight Cedric, Zankyou." She smiled, blushing at the thought of their 'almost kiss' earlier and before she had time to think about what she was doing, she reached up and kissed him on the cheek and turned to go inside leaving a slightly bewildered yet happy Cedric in the storm._

As he had made him way back to the school after, he came to the startling realization that he was doing something that he had promised himself he wouldn't. Not with her, not a close friend like she had turned out to be. He realized that he was falling for her.


End file.
